nothing fancy, just adorable

Monthly Archives: December 2012

I live in California- right on the dividing line between So Cal and Central Cal. It can get cold in the winter. It’ll be down in the 30’s tonight. But my house is fairly new (14 years old) and fairly well insulated. This fall, David and I decided to go as long as possible without turning on the heater. Just to see how long we could hold out and also as kind of a fun game to see how low the power bill would go. I think last night was the coldest night so far this season. But it hasn’t gotten below 60 degrees inside the house yet (at least not while I’ve been awake). But 60 degrees inside your house is pretty dang chilly! But we will not cave! At least not yet! January may get colder though.

A byproduct of this experiment is that I’ve become more mindful of just how much of a luxury having central heat inside a cozy home really is. With the flip of a switch I could have warm, toasty air circulating throughout my entire home. Not everyone has this luxury or can afford to run their heat even if they have it. I am grateful I have the option to play this ‘game’. Also, kittens really like to snuggle when it is cooler in the house. They may even sleep with you ALL night!

I wonder if we’ll want to experiment with how long we can go this summer without running the air conditioner? It gets up to 105+ degrees on the reg in these parts. We shall see. (I could go for a nice 85-90 degrees right about now. I’m kind of a warm weather person…)

I won’t feel like a failure if we decide to turn the heat on. I’ll just feel warm. : )

Today is my third day of taking a break from facebook and twitter. I actually just shared two instagram posts on twitter and responded to a tweet from a friend, but I didn’t scroll through my feed or anything else. Also, I’m about to log into FB just to adjust my settings so I get the email notifications if, say, someone invites me to a party or something! But, I must say, I feel more calm and centered without the constant facebook checking that was happening before!

Yesterday after work, I went for a three mile run and then headed to a 90 minute restorative yoga class. When I was done I felt like a zen pile of mush. And I mean that in the best possible way! In the past I would probably have gotten in the car after yoga and sat there for 10 minutes checking my facebook feed before driving home. That is how addicted I was. It’s gross, really.

So, I’m feeling good about this decision. Really good. And it is so nice to remember that I have a real life beyond facebook and twitter!

Today I decided to take a social media sabbatical for an undetermined amount of time. It might only be a day or two. Or it might be forever (highly doubtful). There is just too much sadness going on in the world and I can’t control what is coming into my line of sight. Several years ago I made the conscious decision to stop watching the news and reading newspapers (print and online). It made a huge difference in my anxiety level and my mental well being. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and I don’t want to treat it with pills so I treat it with diet, yoga, and careful control of outside stimulus. Lately I’m having trouble keeping my diet clean, my yoga practice regularity has fallen off, and of course, every time I log into my facebook or twitter accounts I see horrible news. Not just national tragedies but friends and local neighbors facing devastating realities. Living in a bubble is an act of self preservation at times.

For the next few weeks I want to focus on Christmas and making cookies and wrapping gifts and listening to Christmas music and staying warm and cozy. Maybe drink some hot toddies (what exactly are hot toddies? I think of them as any hot cocktail-type drink…) And I LOVE the new year! I love a fresh start. Making resolutions and setting goals for the year. I’m training (not very dedicated at this point and that is another issue) for my first half marathon at the end of February, so I REALLY need to focus on that too. I want to do a juice cleanse for the first week or 10 days of January. I want to practice yoga daily. I want to make a vision board. I want to focus on the things I love, rather than wasting hours a day reading about crap on Facebook. So, I deleted the twitter and facebook apps from my phone. I’ll probably still Instagram because I love looking at pictures of food and kitties and pretty faces. And I’ll continue to read my blogs. My lovely, crafty, foodie, creative blogs. I love reading blogs. David called them my ‘shiny happy blogs’. :) I love that. And I also plan to blog here again. But I might not post any pics. Do people read blogs without pictures? I do.